June, 2012

Hennessy VS is known for introducing the refined taste of superior French Cognac to a global audience. WTF Gallery & Cafe is known for it innovative, yet classically executed cocktails and for it’s adventurous art and culture programming.

We invite you to participate in a collective recitation of the poem written by Ah Kong’s wife Khun Rosmalin, to be read 112 times during the evening, in Thai or English.

Khun Rosmalin’s poem is below (photocopies will be made available at the gallery on the day.)

~ The poem will be read 112 times by the collective performers. Come as an individual or you can form a group with each member of the group reading it. You can read it once or 10 times.

~ The performance will end after the 112th recitation.

Confined within four walls and riddled by ill health, a man sees little justice. He breathes his last. Some days before that his love sends him a poem – celebrating the years they spent – with a wish to grow even older together. How many times did her words echo over and over again in his mind as he waited for an outcome? We too were waiting for an outcome, but death was far from our minds.

Adding your voice is to build up to a crescendo of remembrance – a crescendo to succour souls, and one that may add to our yearning of and call for change.

The imprisonment of Ah Kong for violating law 112 — 4 sms messages from his phone, resulting in a 20 year prison sentence — shocked and disturbed many. His death while in custody and care of the Thai Criminal and Judicial system, rejecting bail 8 times, has brought a new wave of outrage, sadness and confusion. Unbeknowst to the fact of what really happened, he appeared to our eyes as a simple man who barely knew how to operate his phone, and he has become a symbol for grand ideas and outlandish grievances. Throughout much of his ordeal, he was alone with minimal charity or attention from the system that imprisoned him nor the public at large.

Leaving all of political views aside, we wish to remember – to not let his death and the events leading to it fade from our memory.

WTF Gallery is pleased to announce a contemporary art exhibition "A Part Of Me, A Part Of You" by selected visual artists and musicians, curated by Tokin Teekanun. The process of the exhibition began by selecting musicians who are within the integral fabric of the indie music scene in Thailand. They were asked to compose new musical compositions based on a specific moment in their lives. Drawing from deep emotional experiences as well as significant incidents each musician translated a period of time into the music. The curator then selected a group of artists and matched them with a song. They were allowed to interpret and articulate the notes, melody and lyrics to express them visually and conceptually in order to share the experiences that the musicians have articulated musically. The collaborations were spontaneous and created without supervision, resulting in a new form of dialogue between artists and musicians.

The exhibition will commence at WTF gallery on Friday 1 June 2012 with the performances by 5 musicians prior to the viewing 5 art works by 5 artists. The exhibition will continue at SOL Space on 9 June 2012, with another set of artists and musicians.

One part is small and is only a part of something

That something is a lot of things put together

If something is a person,

a part of that person might be the surroundings or an experience that a person can acknowledge, feel, accept, and select for themselves. No matter they seek for it or it happens unexpectedly.

A part of you = Things that you select for yourself

A part of me = Things that I select for myself

A part of the artist = Something that the artist chooses to express for their work

A part of the viewers = Something that the viewers choose to select for

themselves

"A part of you, a part of me" project aims to create a shared experience between something and a part of it. Both in a task and the communication to the public, both invited and uninvited. This will depend on them whether they choose to be a part of this work "A part of you, a part of me" or not